In Europe dressage horses are changed hands by a few different methods, each of which has its own advantages and its own risks. The particular channel you choose will indicate what you can expect.
It is possible to purchase the horse directly from the breeder who raised it. Such horses are generally young and come with their complete history, often at the best initial price, although the breeder usually provides little in terms of production or aftercare. Alternatively, you can buy from a professional sales stable, which acquires young horses, trains them, and then sells them. In this case you receive both selection and refinement all in one place, together with the stable’s markup and a reputation that can be either excellent or notorious, so it is necessary to carry out some research into the stable. You can also buy at auction, since the horses have already been selected and are accompanied by published veterinary reports, but in this situation you have either no opportunity to ride them or no right to return them. Finally, you can obtain the horse privately from an amateur owner, who at times offers the best value but at other times provides the least protection.
There are also the online marketplaces, in which all of the above advertise together. These act as shop windows, not as sellers. Since the platform gives no guarantee regarding the horse or the person who has put up the advert, your first task when looking at any online listing is to find out who you are actually dealing with, since this will determine all aspects of the risk.
The truth is that for a buyer who is carrying out all these steps from a different continent, the best horses generally make their way quietly via a network of trainers and professionals who know one another before they are ever put up for sale. This kind of network is difficult to get access to from outside, and that is one of the principal reasons why international buyers hire an agent locally. In fact, this is exactly the kind of thing that a matchmaking service such as ours is meant to provide: access to horses that you could never locate through a general search.